Rashida Tlaib

Rashida Tlaib
Rashida Harbi Tlaib (born July 24, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the U.S. representative for .
A member of the Democratic Party, Tlaib represented districts 6 and 12, respectively, in the Michigan House of Representatives before her election to Congress. In 2018, she won the Democratic nomination for the United States House of Representatives in Michigan's 13th congressional district. She ran unopposed in the general election and became the first woman of Palestinian descent in Congress, the first Muslim woman to serve in the Michigan legislature, and one of the first two Muslim women elected to Congress (the other being Ilhan Omar). Tlaib is a member of The Squad, an informal group of six (four until the 2020 elections) U.S. representatives on the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are the first female members of Democratic Socialists of America to serve in Congress. Tlaib has argued in favor of abolishing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She was a vocal critic of the Trump administration and advocated for Trump's impeachment. On foreign affairs, she is sharply critical of the Israeli government, has called for an end to U.S. aid to Israel, supports a one-state solution, and supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.
Early life and education
The eldest of 14 children, Rashida Harbi was born on July 24, 1976, to working-class Palestinian immigrants in Detroit. Her mother was born in Beit Ur El Foka, near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The name Rashida means "righteous". Her father was born in Beit Hanina, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem. He moved first to Nicaragua, then to Detroit. He worked on an assembly line in a Ford Motor Company plant. As the eldest, Tlaib played a role in raising her siblings while her parents worked.
Tlaib attended elementary school at Harms, Bennett Elementary, and Phoenix Academy. She graduated from Southwestern High School in Detroit in 1994. Tlaib received a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Wayne State University in 1998 and her Juris Doctor from Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 2004. Tlaib was admitted to the bar in the state of Michigan in 2007.
Michigan House of Representatives
Tlaib began her political career in 2004 when she interned with State Representative Steve Tobocman. When Tobocman became Majority Floor Leader in 2007, he hired Tlaib to his staff.
In 2008 Tobocman encouraged Tlaib to run for his seat, which he was vacating due to term limits. The urban district is 40% Hispanic, 25% African-American, 30% non-Hispanic white Americans, and 2% Arab American. Tlaib faced a crowded primary that included several Latinos, including former State Representative Belda Garza. She emerged victorious, carrying 44% of the vote in the eight-way Democratic primary and winning the general election with over 90% of the vote.
In 2010, Tlaib faced a primary election challenge from Jim Czachorowski in his first bid for office. Tlaib picked up 85% of the vote to Czachorowski's 15%, and won the general election with 92% of the vote against Republican challenger Darrin Daigle.
In 2012, Tlaib won reelection to the Michigan House in the newly redrawn 6th district. Tlaib faced fellow incumbent Maureen Stapleton in the Democratic primary and defeated her, 52%-45%. She won the general election with 92% of the vote against Republican nominee Darrin Daigle. Tlaib could not run for the Michigan House a fourth time in 2014 because of term limits; instead, she ran for the Michigan Senate, losing to incumbent Senator Virgil Smith Jr. in the 2014 Democratic primary, 50%-42%.
Tlaib is the first Muslim woman to serve as a member of the Michigan State Legislature. She is also the second Muslim woman (after Jamilah Nasheed of Missouri) to serve in a state legislature nationwide.
After leaving the state legislature, Tlaib worked at Sugar Law Center, a Detroit nonprofit that provides free legal representation for workers.
U.S. House of Representatives
Elections
2018 special
In 2018, Tlaib announced her candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Michigan's 13th congressional district. Longtime Representative John Conyers had resigned from Congress in December 2017 due to a sexual harassment scandal. Tlaib filed in both the Democratic primary in the special election for the balance of Conyers's 27th term and in the general election for a full two-year term.
As of July 16, 2018, Tlaib had raised $893,030 in funds, more than her five opponents in the August 7 Democratic primary. Tlaib, as a member of the Justice Democrats, made a guest appearance on the political interview show Rebel HQ of the progressive media network The Young Turks (TYT).
In the Democratic primary for the special election, Tlaib finished second to Detroit City Council president Brenda Jones, who received 32,727 votes (37.7% of the total) to Tlaib's 31,084 (35.9%). Bill Wild, mayor of Westland, received 13,152 votes (15.2%) and Ian Conyers, the great-nephew of former Congressman Conyers, took fourth with 9,740 (11.2%).
In the Democratic primary for the general election, Tlaib defeated five other candidates. She received 27,803 votes, or 31.2%.
2018 general
Tlaib faced no major-party opposition in November 2018, though Jones mounted an eleventh-hour write-in bid. On Election Day, Tlaib became the first Palestinian-American woman to be elected to Congress.
2020
Jones challenged Tlaib in the 2020 Democratic primary. Tlaib won, 66%–34%, spending over $2,000,000 in campaign funds to Jones's $140,000.
2022
In 2022, following redistricting, Tlaib sought reelection in Michigan's newly drawn 12th congressional district. She won the Democratic primary with 64% of the vote over three challengers, and the general election with 71% of the vote over Republican Steven Elliott and Gary Walkowicz of the Working Class Party.
Tenure
Along with fellow Democrat Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Tlaib is one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress. She took the congressional oath of office on January 3, 2019, swearing in on an English-language translation of the Quran. She wore a thawb (thobe), a traditional embroidered Arab dress, to the swearing-in ceremony. This inspired a number of Palestinian and Palestinian-American women to share pictures on social media with the hashtag #TweetYourThobe.
House Ethics Committee investigation
On November 14, 2019, the House Ethics Committee announced that it was investigating whether Tlaib used congressional campaign money for personal expenses in violation of House rules. In August 2020 the committee directed Tlaib to reimburse her campaign $10,800, stating that Tlaib has an "obligation to act in accordance with the strict technical requirements of federal campaign laws and regulations, including the restrictions on personal use of campaign funds".
Committee assignments
Committee on Financial Services
Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion
Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
Committee on Natural Resources
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Committee on Oversight and Reform
Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
Subcommittee on Environment
Caucus memberships
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Congressional Freethought Caucus
Political positions
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Tlaib has said she opposes providing aid to a "Netanyahu Israel" and supported the Palestinian right of return and a one-state solution. In 2018, J Street withdrew its endorsement of Tlaib due to her support for a one-state solution. J Street said she had misled it about her views on the issue during her primary campaign. Responding to criticism, Tlaib elaborated by saying that she believed a two-state solution under Benjamin Netanyahu's government was not possible without harming the Israeli people. Tlaib is one of the few members of Congress to openly support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against the Israeli government. She has defended her support of the boycott on free speech grounds and as a response to Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and settlement building, which are illegal under international law.
In January 2019, Tlaib criticized anti-BDS legislation proposed by Senators Marco Rubio and Jim Risch. She argued that boycotting is a right and that Rubio and Risch "forgot what country they represent". Tlaib's comments were criticized by several groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, which said, "Though the legislation discussed is sponsored by four non-Jewish Senators, any charge of dual loyalty has special sensitivity and resonance for Jews, particularly in an environment of rising anti-Semitism." Tlaib responded that her comments were directed at Rubio and Risch, not the Jewish American community. She was one of 17 members of Congress to vote against a July 2019 House resolution condemning the BDS movement, which passed by a margin of 381 votes. Tlaib suggested boycotting HBO host Bill Maher after he denounced the BDS movement.
In March 2020, Tlaib spoke at a gala for American Muslims for Palestine, a group that supports an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, equality for Arab Israelis, and a right of return for Palestinian refugees. The Anti-Defamation League has argued that the group holds extreme anti-Israel views and provides a cover for antisemitism; AMP denies this and says it opposes antisemitism.
In December 2020, Tlaib deleted a retweet she had posted a few days earlier, on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, containing the phrase "From the River to the Sea"a nationalist Palestinian slogan associated with calls for Israel's elimination in the past.
On September 23, 2021, Tlaib called Israel an "apartheid state" on the House floor during a debate over funding for Iron Dome; Representative Ted Deutch responded by accusing Tlaib of antisemitism.
On July 18, 2023, Tlaib and eight other progressive Democrats (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, André Carson, Summer Lee, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley, and Delia Ramirez) voted against a congressional non-binding resolution proposed by August Pfluger that "the State of Israel is not a racist or apartheid state", that Congress rejects "all forms of antisemitism and xenophobia", and that “the United States will always be a staunch partner and supporter of Israel".
During the October 2023 Gaza−Israel conflict Tlaib released a statement grieving the loss of both Israeli and Palestinian life, saying that the only way to end the cycle of violence was to dismantle the apartheid system, and calling for the end of unconditional U.S. support for Israel. Representatives Ritchie Torres and Josh Gottheimer and Israeli ambassador to the United States Mike Herzog condemned her statement.
Ban from entering Israel
On August 15, 2019, Israel announced that Tlaib and her colleague Ilhan Omar would be denied entry into the country. According to The Times of Israel, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely said Israel would not "allow those who deny our right to exist in this world to enter" and called it a "very justified decision." It was reported that President Trump had pressed the government of Benjamin Netanyahu to make such a decision. The next day, Israeli authorities granted a request by Tlaib to visit her relatives in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on humanitarian grounds and under certain restrictions on political statements. Tlaib declined to go, saying that she did not want to make the trip "under these oppressive conditions." The Israeli interior ministry stated that Tlaib had previously agreed to abide by any rules their government had set in exchange for being permitted to visit the country, and accused her of making a "provocative request aimed at bashing the State of Israel".
In August 2019, following the decision of Israel to ban them from arriving in the country, Tlaib and Ilhan Omar retweeted a cartoon by Carlos Latuff showing Tlaib being silenced by Benjamin Netanyahu and Omar being silenced by Trump. Latuff's cartoons have been accused of using anti-Semitic tropes. Representative Jerry Nadler, The Anti-Defamation League, and other Jewish groups condemned them for sharing it.
Saudi Arabia
Tlaib has criticized Saudi Arabia's human rights violations and the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.
Trump administration
Tlaib supported the efforts to impeach President Trump. In August 2016, she protested a speech then-candidate Trump gave at Cobo Center and was ejected from the venue. On her first day in Congress, January 3, 2019, she published an op-ed with John Bonifaz in which she argued that it was not necessary to wait for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to complete his criminal investigation before proceeding with impeachment.
Later that day, Tlaib spoke at a reception for the MoveOn campaign, recounting a conversation with her son in which she expressed her resolve to "impeach the motherfucker". Trump retorted that her comments were "highly disrespectful to the United States of America".
In a radio interview with Mehdi Hasan of The Intercept, Tlaib reiterated her call for Trump's impeachment.
Drug law reform
Tlaib supports ending the federal prohibition of cannabis and "releasing people convicted of marijuana-related offenses".
Democratic Party
Tlaib, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, aligns politically with the left wing of the Democratic Party.
Domestic policy
She supports domestic reforms, including Medicare for All and a $18 to $20 hourly minimum wage. On November 5, 2021, Tlaib was one of six House Democrats to break with their party and vote against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act because it was decoupled from the social safety net provisions in the Build Back Better Act.
Immigration
Tlaib was an early supporter of the movement to abolish the Immigration Customs Enforcement agency. In June 2019 she was one of four Democratic representatives to vote against the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations for Humanitarian Assistance and Security at the Southern Border Act, a $4.5 billion border funding bill that required Customs and Border Protection enact health standards for individuals in custody such as forming standards for individuals for "medical emergencies; nutrition, hygiene, and facilities; and personnel training."
Law enforcement
Following the killing of Daunte Wright, Tlaib called American policing "inherently and intentionally racist", saying, "No more policing, incarceration, and militarization. It can't be reformed." Detroit police chief James Craig called Tlaib's comments "disgusting". In 2023, Tlaib and Congresswoman Cori Bush were the only two representatives to vote against a resolution recognizing National Police Week.
Abortion
Tlaib supports abortion rights and has criticized what she called "white men trying to force women to not have the right to seek legal abortions". She was endorsed by abortion rights organization NARAL.
Syria
In 2023, Tlaib was among 56 Democrats to vote in favor of H.Con.Res. 21 which directed President Joe Biden to remove U.S. troops from Syria within 180 days.
Personal life
In 1998, at the age of 22, Tlaib married Fayez Tlaib. They have two sons, Adam and Yousif. The couple have since divorced. In 2018, a campaign spokesperson referred to Tlaib as a single mother.
In September 2018, The New York Times reported that Tlaib walked into her family's mosque to express her gratitude for the opportunity to run for Congress, articulating a belief that "my Allah is She". The Detroit Free Press reported that, although she recognizes that some in her faith community consider her not "Muslim enough", she believes that Allah understands that she deems her actions "reflective of Islam".
Electoral history
Notes
See also
List of Arab and Middle Eastern Americans in the United States Congress
List of Democratic Socialists of America who have held office in the United States
List of Muslim members of the United States Congress
The Squad (United States Congress)
Women in the United States House of Representatives
References
Further reading
Palestinian-American Democrat: I Will 'Humanize' the Palestinian People in the U.S. Congress
External links
Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib official U.S. House website
Campaign website
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1976 births
Living people
American Muslims
American politicians of Palestinian descent
American women lawyers
Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Michigan
Female members of the United States House of Representatives
Left-wing populism in the United States
Members of the Democratic Socialists of America from Michigan
Democratic Party members of the Michigan House of Representatives
Michigan lawyers
Muslim members of the United States House of Representatives
Muslim socialists
Politicians from Detroit
Progressivism in the United States
Western Michigan University Cooley Law School alumni
Wayne State University alumni
Women state legislators in Michigan
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century American women lawyers
21st-century American lawyers